Sell, Swap, or Donate: The Summer Clean-Out-Your-Closet Guide to Park Slope
Summer officially begins tomorrow, which technically means you have one more day for spring cleaning. Ready for a pre-season purge? Neighborhood resale shops are on hand to accept the spoils of your labors and redistribute them to more maxi-dress-loving/mini-skirt-wearing/cashmir-friendly owners:
A haven of gently owned upscale-ish women’s and girls’ clothes (Banana Republic, not Prada), Two Lovers is still buying summer stock through July 1. Drop off, they’ll wade through your stuff overnight, and when you return the next day, they’ll hand over cash for their picks — usually between $1 and $15 cash, or $1.50 and $22.50 (50% more) in store credit. And if they don’t want it and you don’t want it? They’ll pass it on to Housingworks. (FiPS has nothing but raves about the experience.)
227 5th Ave, (718) 783-5683
Cooler, bigger, younger, and with a lot more H&M in the mix, the Park Slope outpost of the Williamsburg icon is also taking summer merchandise. They’ll weed through your stuff as you wait, paying either 55% of the current retail value in store credit or 35% in cash. Anything they don’t take that you don’t want back will be donated to (the website-less) Dominick’s Mobile Ministry.
92 5th Ave, (718) 230-1630
The secondhand children’s boutique wants clothes, toys, books, accessories, and general gear designed for the newborn-to-8-year-old set. (They don’t, however, take car seats, stuffed animals, cribs, bedding, or underwear.) Call to set up an appointment, drop off your prospective merchandise, and let the Lulu folks scan for treasure — they’ll give you 40% of an item’s current retail value in store credit or 25% of the value by check. The rest — if you don’t want it back — goes to Salvation Army and Brooklyn-based non-profit Little Essentials.
75A 5th Avenue, (718) 398-5858
You missed your chance to sell for summer, but get ready: they’ll be looking to buy fall stock come September.
69 5th Ave, (718) 622-7669
And while there’s no cash involved, we couldn’t not include Housingworks, which opened its Park Slope location last year.
The non-profit, which works with New Yorkers living with HIV, raises money through their network of donation-driven thrift stores. They’re looking for apparel and accessories (plus housewares, antiques, furniture, etc.) in excellent condition, but they’re significantly less picky (and less judgmental) than their for-profit peers.
266 5th Ave, (718) 636-2271